Lately, our lives have been filled with lots of happiness and snippets of
pure bliss…

Kisses!
I love that they are besties!
(… most of the time…)

Hollis is pure sweetness!
Seriously, her sweet little spirit melts my heart on a daily basis!

And this boy’s smile is contagious!
The happiness he exudes is sure to brighten anyone’s day!

Then there is little miss mischief!
This girl wears us out!
She keeps us on our toes and makes sure we NEVER have a dull moment! 

Lately, we have been soaking up these fleeting moments!
Spending time with those who mean the most and thanking God for blessing us with these three precious littles!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

1 Peter 1:3

Wow.
Is it just me or is time FLYING by at a really fast pace?!
I mean I swear I Hollis was just born…
but the reality is that was almost 8, yes EIGHT, months ago!

Since I stepped away from JIAD a LOT has happened…

Like….

Being the best Mama I can be to the precious littles that God blessed us with:

And going on lots of dates with my amazing hubby:

I have also been working hard with my fabulously talented business partner and dearest friend, McKeever, to grow our new business…

More details coming VERY soon about nattieMACK, !

Hollis is growing like a weed!

Harper is as fabulous as ever:

and Cliff is just doing stuff little boys love to do…

…Oh yea.. and walking with his crutches!!!

I have even done a few projects that I am planning on sharing with you soon!
So in my absence,
I have not forgotten about my JIAD family!
In fact, I miss all of you and plan to make time to create, write and inspire right here on JIAD!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

A fun topper…

plus some super fun ornaments…

equals …

My favorite Christmas Tree to date!

How do you decorate your tree?!
(Colored lights, white lights, random ornaments, etc?)

Merry Christmas!  

I will be hosting a Matilda Jane Trunk Show on November 27th and would love to invite you to join in on the fun!
If you haven’t heard of Matilda Jane,
then you are in for a treat!

I am pretty sure Ross would say I am ADDICTED to Matilda Jane!
Yes, it’s true.

And little miss prissy pants Harper quickly became a huge fan herself!
She LOVES wearing “Batilda Jane” because it is comfy, allowing her to play without being restricted, fun, with their bright, happy patterns and most of all absolutely adorable!

I can promise you that each penny invested is TOTALLY worth it!
I am sure some of you will look at the prices and think “HOW in the world can someone spend THAT much on an outfit for a 2 year old to wear?!”
Well, here is your answer…
Harper has a good many Matilda Jane outfits so I am speaking from personal experience here…
They last FOREVER and seriously look brand new even after being worn and washed many, many times!
The resale value of Matilda Jane is usually at retail value, if not higher…
Yea, that’s right.
You purchase an outfit and your little girl can wear it, then you can sell it to another mama USED for the same amount of $$ you paid for it… it not MORE depending on the “demand” for that particular outfit and if it is sold out, which most items do sell out because MJ is awesome and TONS of mamas all over are catching on to this amazing clothing company!

You can mix and match to many pieces that each piece can be worn numerous times without it looking like your child is wearing the same outfit everyday (and yes, they will want to wear Matilda Jane every day because it’s THAT comfy!)!

Matilda Jane has amazing clothes but the details are what makes their brand really stand out.
The details of each article of clothing is like it’s own little piece of artwork!
I mean every.single.teeny.tiny.detail from the buttons to the trim are amazing.  

Did I mention they also create fabulous clothing for us Mamas too?!

(I LIVE in my MJ Ruffles …. seriously cute and soooo comfy!)

If you want to order online, please comment on this post saying “I want to order online!” and your email address! I will send you the information on how to place your order!

If you are local and want to join in the fun at my Matilda Jane Trunk Show,
please comment on this post saying “I want to attend!” and your email address! I will send you all the details about the location as well as the time of the Trunk Show!

Yay for “Batilda Jane!”

WARNING: You WILL become a Matilda Jane addict the second you see your little one in their amazing clothing!

Play Felt Christmas Trees!
They are approximately  3 1/2 tall, will come with felt 20 ornaments and 4 presents. These provide some SERIOUS entertainment and keep your littels from un-decorating your real Christmas Tree! These are $35 shipped
! Please leave your PayPal email in a comment if you would like to order one!
Please put if the tree is for a girl, boy or both in the comment as well!

Merry Christmas!

***********************************************************************
All orders placed after December 8, 2o12 will be shipped in January 2013!
Thank you!

If you have been a JIAD reader for a while,
then you know that I am a SUCKER for Christmas décor!
This year I decided to make a new wreath for our front door because in my book, you can NEVER have enough Christmas Wreaths!
My friend Mandy, is a mesh wreath makin’ goddess so I called her up and we had a crafty Christmas Wreath evening!

This is what I ended up with:

Want to make one for your front door?!
These are super simple and fun to make!

Start with a wire wreath and tie wire onto it, like this:

TIP: Make the wire LONGER than I did… you can always cut excess at the end! You want to make sure you have enough length to hold all of the mesh so you won’t have to add more!
Once your wreath is all “wired up,” it’s time to add the mesh!

Start by tying the end of the mesh to the wreath using one to the wires…
(I used mesh that was about 2 feet wide)
twist the wire around the end of the mesh to secure it! Does that make sense?!
Then you poof and twist wire around, leaving the ends of the wire pulled apart.
(I twisted the wire twice around the mesh to hold it in place… see next few picture for clarification!)

If you are wondering what kind of wire to use…
this is what Mandy had and it was better than mine!
So get this kind!

See how I left the ends apart and twisted the wire the mesh around twice?!

Once you get all the way around the wreath and are back to where you started, add another color like I did below, or keep going around with the same color (if you want a solid wreath)!

I “weaved” the red mesh in and out of the green mesh.
Your wreath should now look something like this.
I went around one more time with the green after the red mesh!

So, after three “rounds” of mesh, your wreath should look like this:

Once you are finished with adding the second round of mesh, it’s time to make the bows!
Cut two pieces of ribbon the same length.
Mine were about 8-9 inches long… I didn’t measure…

Lay the thinner ribbon on top of the thicker ribbon like this:

And pinch the center.

Tie the center with a piece of wire like this:

I hot glued the pom poms on to the center of the ribbon to cover up the wire.

Make sure your wires are not visible from the front of the bow then add some hot glue to the center of the ribbon.

I used the ribbon bows to cover up the wire that holds the mesh onto the wreath!
The mesh was very thick and bubbly, so you do not HAVE to do this if you don’t want to!
I also placed mine at different angles.

Once you have added all of your ribbon bows,
your wreath should look like this:

Of course I HAD to add a “P” to my wreath,
so I painted a BIG “P” that I found at Hobby Lobby red then hand painted large lime green polka dots on it!

How much fun is this wreath?!?

I love how the ribbons add a fun POP of interest!

I think the “polka dot “P” takes the wreath to a whole other level of fabulous-ness!

Now crank up that Christmas music and make a super cute wreath!

Oh yea… Just incase you are feeling SUPER crafty…
here are some tutorials from the past: stockings, Rag wreath With Lights ,ribbon garland, A Play felt Christmas tree, A Christmas Wreath and an Acorn Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas!
(Even though Thanksgiving is not even here yet…)

If you make a wreath using this tutorial, please share it on the JIAD Facebook Page or email it to me! I would love to see your creations!

Can’t believe Hollis is 13 weeks today!
Where does the time go?!?

Trick or Treat?!

Happy Halloween!

Love,
A football player, a cheerleader, a football and their fans!

Happy Fall from our family to yours!